Dudley Dursley Returns
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: JK Rowling has stated that Harry and Dudley kept in contact via Christmas cards, but did they ever meet again in person, and more importantly, reconcile? I believe they did, and here's how. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: An Unexpected Letter

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Letter**

Harry Potter was up early one summer Saturday morning getting breakfast. His wife, Ginny, and three kids - James, Albus and Lily - were still asleep.

As he started making his cereal, a sudden tapping at the window made him nearly drop the milk. An owl was there, with a letter in hand. Harry let the bird in, untied the envelope from its talons, and flipped it a Knut as payment. The bird flew off.

Harry regarded the envelope. It was addressed to him, in a scrawl that seemed vaguely…familiar…he couldn't place it. He tore it open, and revealed the letter inside. What he read almost made him drop to the floor:

 _Harry-_

 _I have written this letter quite a bit over these last twenty years, but I could never find the right words. So, suffice it to say that I am hoping to save all those words for speech and not in writing. I want to talk with you, Harry, face-to-face. I'm available for lunch next Saturday week. You can name the time and the place._

 _I hope you are well._

 _Your cousin,_

 _Dudley_

Harry sat in the nearest chair, stunned. Dudley was alive…and well, he presumed. This thought was quickly followed by dozens of others: Where were Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia? Were they alive? And how had Dudley known about the magical mail system via owl?

He looked back at the letter. At the bottom was something he had not noticed before. It looked like a telephone number. With almost shaking hands, Harry reached for the landline phone and dialed it. The dial tone buzzed before a female voice answered.

"Hello?"

 _Dudley's married?_ Harry thought before he quickly found his voice. "Yes, hi, um…is Dudley home?"

"Who is this?"

"This is Harry Potter."

Silence. Harry was beginning to feel uneasy as he heard shuffling at the other end of the phone. He was just about to conclude that calling had been a mistake and hang up when a voice he thought he might never hear again came through.

"Harry?"

Harry couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Big D."

"Blimey! I didn't think you were even going to write back, much less call!"

"Of course I wouldn't ignore it!" Harry said, and strangely enough, he meant it. "Anyway…you wouldn't happen to know the coffee shop on Chauntsbury Avenue?"

"I should hope I did. Me and my mates go there at least once a week."

"Summit Coffee, next Saturday, 1:00 PM. Come alone." Harry said simply.

"I'll…see you then," Dudley said slowly.

Harry hung up. He didn't know why, but now he was wondering if what he had just arranged was a bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2: Consulting the Family

**Chapter 2: Consulting the Family**

"Of course it isn't a bad idea!" Hermione chided her brother-in-law as Harry made to dress semi-casual for his lunch with Dudley. They, along with her husband, Ron, were in Harry and Ginny's guest room at the Burrow; the whole Weasley family had gathered there for the week. "You haven't seen the man in twenty years, and he wrote you of his own volition! I don't think he means any ill toward you!"

"He meant ill towards me for the first seventeen years of my life," Harry said flatly, as he buttoned the top of his shirt. "How would you feel in this situation, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged from her place on the bed. "Wouldn't know. I don't have any cousins."

Harry turned back from the mirror, a grin forcing its way onto his face. "You never told us that!" It was nice to hear bits and pieces about Hermione's Muggle childhood now and again.

"Get used to it, mate," Ron piped up from where he was leaning against the nightstand. "She never tells me anything."

"Oh, hush, you," Hermione smiled, as she playfully tried to swat at him. "Anyway, neither did my parents. I come from a long line of only children. It got a little lonely, actually - no cousins to play with. Hell, I had no one to play with until you two came along."

"Bet you're glad you married into such a large family, then," Ron chuckled.

"Hmmm…." Hermione mockingly pretended to think this over. Ron momentarily looked terrified. "I'm just kidding, come here," Hermione laughed, and she gave her husband a chaste kiss. "Yes, I am glad, and I will never regret it."

Ron smiled, then grew serious as he turned back to his best friend. "But, seriously, Harry - you've been in Auror training too long. Don't go assume this is some sort of trap. Maybe Dudley just really wants to see you."

"You're right," Hermione admitted.

Now it was Ron's turn to have a grin invade his face, as he turned back to his wife. "Excuse me? You're right? How do those words taste coming out of your mouth?"

"Like vinegar," Hermione dead-panned. Harry laughed. "But, Harry…" and here she got up and took his hands in her own. "If it makes you feel any better, we can go with you."

"No, that's alright, I told Dudley to come alone; I should at least do the same-"

"Who says he has to know Ron and I are there? We could shadow you. And if he tries anything funny-" her expression now darkened. "-he's going to find himself on the wrong end of my wand."

Harry smiled at her lovingly. "Oh, my sister - I would not want to be your enemy," he chuckled. He still turned down his best friends' offer, though. Ginny then appeared at the door, letting her husband know that it was time to go. Hermione gave Harry a hug and peck on the cheek; Ron shook his hand. "Good luck!" the latter called as Harry strode out the door.


	3. Chapter 3: Catching Up

**Chapter 3: Catching Up**

Harry arrived at Summit Coffee a few minutes early. He took a seat at one of the umbrella tables outside and waited. He remembered the first time he was on this street; it was where he, Ron and Hermione had Apparated to at the start of the Horcrux hunt. After about 5 minutes, he peered at the passerby approaching, one in particular.

It was him, all right, that much was clear from his face. But the rest of him…the piggy cousin Harry had known was gone. In his place was a modestly muscular man who had definitely succeeded in shedding all his baby fat. He was dressed in a nice outfit similar to Harry's, which also set the Boy Who Lived off because he had only remembered Dudley wearing T-shirts, boots, leather jackets and Army chains in the later years of their youth together.

Dudley had now spotted Harry and his steps slowed as he approached. The cousins regarded each other.

"Hello, Harry."

"Hello, Dudley," Harry nodded, refraining from calling him 'Big D' for once in his life. A pause, and then Dudley finally took a seat across from him. The two awkwardly glanced at each other then away for a few minutes; in that time, the waiter even took their order.

"This is ridiculous," Dudley finally said. "I deluded myself into thinking I'd have the courage to talk to you after twenty years, but now-"

"Courage?" Harry asked, a little taken aback. This was an odd comment indeed from Dudley, who had stolen from stores, even hijacked a few cars, as a young man and had never gotten caught. Harry had watched him and his mates go at it a few times, as an innocent bystander. The Chosen One hated to admit it, but some of the skills he had refined as an Auror were ones he had first learned just from watching his cousin break the law. "The Dementors really did blow a different personalty into you!"

Dudley chuckled ruefully. "Suppose they did." He sighed. "So, obviously you defeated that maniac who was after you."

"Voldemort, yes," Harry acknowledged.

"Figured. Deadulus and Hestia told us 'bout 9 months after we left that it was safe again, and that we could go home."

Harry was shocked Dudley even remembered the names of his Auror protectors, but instead just asked, "And did you?"

Dudley shook his head. "No. My parents didn't want to. Neither did I, for that matter. Too many painful memories…" He glanced away.

Harry suddenly found himself getting very angry by this comment. "Don't talk to me about painful memories," he hissed. "The worst you ever got was a bloody pig's tail up your ass! Everything else was all presents and sunshine and rainbows and doing whatever the hell you wanted, especially to me! You wanna talk about painful memories? I'm the last person you should see!" He made to get up from the table, but Dudley stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Don't go. You're right." Harry stopped dead. He desperately wanted to ask who this stranger was and what he had done with his cousin, but Dudley was speaking again. "I have no right to know what's painful and what's not. You went through quite a lot, in no small part due to me, and…I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

Harry nodded, and found a grin creeping up his mouth. "I heard you the first time, Big D. I just wanted to hear you say it again." He sat back down. "So. We've got two decades to catch up on - what have you been up to? Working out, I imagine."

Dudley laughed. "Boxing. I was in the minor leagues for a time. Then, I semi-retired and became a personal trainer; I work at the gym a few blocks from Big Ben." His voice got softer here. "Fitness saved my life. If I hadn't gotten in shape, I probably woulda died - if I didn't get carted off to jail first for all that delinquent stuff before I came to my senses about that, too."

"Yeah, what happened to that gang of yours, anyway? What was his name…Piers, and those other blokes?"

"Either dead or in jail, most of them." Harry nodded. He felt almost bad for Dudley's old 'friends.' Then he remembered.

"Your parents-"

"They're alive - and as feisty as ever," Dudley chuckled. "Dad's retired from Grunnings - finally -"

"Yeah, remember when we'd have to listen to all his talk at the dinner table?"

"I know! I thought he'd never shut up!" Both men laughed.

"And Mum's doing alright. She's moving a tad slower nowadays, but otherwise ok. They don't know I'm seeing you here, by the way. I knew Dad would have a conniption fit if I told him."

"And Aunt Petunia?"

Dudley thought for a moment. "I think she'd actually be open to seeing you again if I mentioned it. She'd worry about you sometimes, you know, when we were in hiding."

 _Aunt Petunia? Worried about me?_ Harry's head was swimming.

"Anyway," Dudley continued. "I don't know if she'd be able to see you again, even if she wanted to - Dad influences her too much. I reckon he always did, really. You know as well as I do that he ruled by fear in that house. He was the one who really hated you, and Mum and I just had to go along with it until eventually we began to believe it ourselves. That doesn't mean I'm excusing what we all did to you, but…know that we're sorry we didn't act like your family."

Harry let out a long sigh. "You're right. You didn't act like my family. I had to find one on my own - and I did. Hell, I was lucky enough to even marry into it." Before he realized what he was doing, he had pulled a golden chain out from underneath his shirt. At the end of it was a locket - Slytherin's locket, now purged from its Horcrux past and its damaged parts repaired. It had even been repainted. Harry clicked it open and held it out to Dudley. The heirloom now contained not a piece of Voldemort's soul, but a series of wizarding photographs - up to 12 at a time. The pictures included: the Golden Trio the afternoon of Voldemort's fall; pictures of Harry proposing to Ginny; then Ron proposing to Hermione; Harry and Ginny on their wedding day; the Trio at Ron and Hermione's wedding; one picture each of the births of James, Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo - Harry holding each of them with an insane grin on his face while Ginny, then Hermione laughed in the background; Harry's and Ron's families one time at the beach; and finally a picture of all the Weasleys from their big Family Reunion the summer before. Harry smiled happily at each photo as it rolled through.

"So, those two are Ron and Hermione?" Harry glanced up, astonished that Dudley had named his brother and sister-in-law correctly. Dudley blushed. "I heard you mention their names quite a bit during your summers home."

"They're my best friends. They helped me when I was trying to destroy Voldemort. And now I'm lucky enough to call them my siblings through marriage."

Dudley grinned. "That's unreal, mate!"

"Yeah, it's funny how that works," Harry laughed, silently picking up on that fact that Dudley had called him 'mate.' Harry counted off on his fingers. "In all, I have my wife, her parents, three kids, five brothers-in-law, four sisters-in-law, six nieces and three nephews. Oh, and a godson. And one more brother-in-law who died in the war."

Dudley wolf-whistled. "So, you're the stay-at-home dad, right? With all those relatives?"

"Actually, I work at the Ministry of Magic as an Auror." When Dudley looked at him quizzically, he explained. "It's kind of like a wizard cop. Actually, it's like being a cop, a soldier, a bodyguard and a secret agent all in one!"

"Blimey!" breathed Dudley. "So, do you do some of those, you know, Special Ops stuff and what not?"

Harry chuckled, "Sometimes. Alright, enough about me. What about your family? I heard a lady's voice on the phone when I called you - did the Big D get hit by Cupid's arrow?" He couldn't believe it, but he was actually having fun with his cousin.

"My wife, Marian. She's - well, actually, that's part of the reason I wanted to talk with you today." Dudley leaned forward and whispered in Harry's ear. "She's a witch."

Harry stared, and fought the mad urge to laugh. "You're kidding. Do your parents know?"

"No. And I think our daughter might be magic, too. She's nine, and has already pulled off some funny stunts. I'm not quite sure what to do; I'm new at all this magic stuff, Harry. If you want, I'd love for you to meet them."

Harry glanced at his watch. They had already been here an hour, but Molly's dinners usually started late. He nodded to Dudley, and the two men paid before walking off to Dudley's car. When the coast was clear in the parking lot, Harry sent a Patronus to Ron and Hermione, letting them know where he was and that he was alright. Dudley was very impressed.


	4. Chapter 4: Harry Meets Dudley's Family

**Chapter 4: Harry Meets Dudley's Family**

After about a 30-minute drive, Dudley and Harry pulled up to a nice red-brick house in a quiet neighborhood. They approached the door and went in.

"Marian? I'm home!"

A sweet-faced woman with blonde hair came in. "I was wondering when you'd be back, sweetheart. How was…?" She stopped short and stared at Harry. "Dudley? What is Harry Potter doing in our living room?"

Dudley grinned. "I invited him over. He's my cousin."

"Your COUSIN?!" Marian cried, unable to believe it. "He's your cousin? Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World, is _your cousin_?" Dudley just nodded.

Marian looked like she had just been hit by the Knight Bus. "I'm married to Harry Potter's cousin," she whispered almost to herself. "I'm related to Harry Potter." She finally broke into a huge grin, and ran up to shake Harry's hand. "But this is amazing! It's an honor to meet you, sir!"

Harry laughed, relaxing and getting used to his cousin-in-law's quirks. "Oh, there'll be none of that! Just Harry, please." Marian nodded so enthusiastically, her head looked in danger of coming off.

"I was three years behind you at Hogwarts. Too young to fight in the Battle, of course, and we never crossed paths! This is…this is…" She finally calmed enough to call, "OI! Emily! You want to meet a celebrity?"

A little girl came racing out of the adjacent kitchen to the foyer. Harry noted that she had most of Dudley's facial features, and was Marian pretty much everywhere else. The girl stuck out her hand and flashed Harry a toothy grin.

"I'm Emily Kendall Elizabeth Dursley! I'm nine years old and I can do magic!"

Harry smiled and shook. "Well, why don't we go into the kitchen and you can show me, Emily Kendall Elizabeth Dursley?" He shook his head ruefully. "Merlin, what a name."

The quartet then went back and Harry was filled in on everything. Emily made a plant pot of water instantly freeze and then crack, among other tricks. That was all Harry needed to see.

"She is most definitely a witch," Harry reported to Dudley.

"That's just what I told him! Didn't I sweetheart?" Marian concurred as she turned to her husband.

"The problem is how will we tell your parents, Dudley."

Silence now, from both Marian and Dudley. Dudley looked terrified. "Do we have to?" he practically whispered.

"And try and hide it from them for the next eight years? That's not a gamble you're bloody likely to win, Big D," Harry said grimly. "But…I have an idea. Emily needs to be around young wizards and witches her age before she goes off to Hogwarts. And if you're looking for her to have magical playmates, my family's it. The youngest ones, like Lily and Hugo, are only a year older than her. They'd be like her peers." Harry was now pacing around the kitchen, a plan quickly taking shape in his head.

"Here's what we're gonna do. I'll invite you guys over to our family dinner at the Burrow Tuesday night. Dudley, you get your parents to come along - and tell them you're meeting with a new business partner," adding the last before Dudley could ask how to invite his parents without revealing anything.

Dudley now nodded, liking the plan. He then turned to his wife. "Would you be OK revealing to them you're a witch, dear?" Marian thought for a moment.

"If we're telling them their granddaughter's a witch, we may as well go all out."

Harry grinned. "Perfect."

"But what if something goes wrong-?"

"Nothing's going to go wrong, Big D. Not on my watch." The Boy Who Lived said it darkly, as if he knew what message Dudley was conveying behind that question. He quickly brightened.

"So, I'll see you all then? I'll call you with the details."

Dudley nodded. "We'll be there."

And with a friendly goodbye, Harry left the Dursley residence and Apparated back to the Burrow.


	5. Chapter 5: Dudley Meets Harry's Family

**Chapter 5: Dudley Meets Harry's Family**

On Tuesday night, a Muggle car pulled up to the Burrow. Waiting outside was the entire Weasley-Potter clan. As soon as Dudley, Marian and Emily got out of the car, Harry jogged over to join them.

"Where are your parents?" he asked his cousin, concerned.

"They're coming in their car."

"But won't they see me when they pull up?" Harry had a feeling that if Vernon even saw one glimpse of him before it was time, the old Muggle would promptly do a U-turn and drive away again.

"Not to worry, mate," Ron laughed, as he sauntered over with Hermione. "We'll hide you with our own bodies till it's too late for them to run." He now eyed Dudley curiously.

"So…you're the infamous Dudley."

Dudley grinned sheepishly, guessing that Ron already knew all about his sordid past with Harry. "Guilty. And you must be Ron." Dudley held out his hand, and Ron looked so surprised, he almost forgot to shake it. Hermione then stepped forward to shake his hand.

"It's nice to meet you finally," she admitted.

"Same to you." Dudley turned back to his cousin. "They really are wonderful people, Harry. You must love them very much."

Harry glanced to his best friends and smiled. "I'd take another Killing Curse for them, and their kids, if I had to." Hermione stared at him adoringly, and Ron actually seemed to wipe a tear from his eye.

Meanwhile, Emily had raced up to the rest of the family by the house, and Harry could see her already meeting some of her second cousins and their Weasley counterparts. She marched right up to 20-year-old Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson, and stuck out her hand in greeting.

"I'm Emily Kendall Elizabeth Dursley. I hear your godfather is my daddy's cousin. I'm a witch!"

Teddy laughed. "Well, isn't that something else! Great to meet you, Emily! Say, you wanna play Quidditch with us?" Emily looked a little confused and also surprised at such a warm welcome.

"Me? Play with you guys?"

"Sure," Teddy grinned. "You're one of us now, kid!" Emily stared at him with an absolutely captivated look on her face. Harry had to smile. He wondered if he was seeing a schoolgirl crush in the making….

"OI!" Marian suddenly called. She was checking the road, a pair of binoculars at her eyes. "A car's in the distance! They're coming!"

Dudley and Ron hustled Harry back over to the rest of the Weasleys and all the adults began to surround the Boy Who Lived and hide him from view.

"Kids! Put the brooms away and come help us hide your uncle!" Hermione ordered. Brooms and Quidditch balls were thrown heltker-skelter into a nearby shed and the horde of kids joined in the game of hide and seek, little realizing what it was for. Marian now jogged up to join them.

"Here they come, everybody! They're rounding the bend!" The car was just pulling up to a stop.

"Marian, honey, go back! You have to greet them!" Dudley reminded her. Marian obeyed, and played the part of a good actress, as she greeted her parents-in-law, revealing absolutely nothing.

Concealed under the heap of his family members, Harry began to shake at the sound of his aunt and uncle's voice. Panic began to set in. What if they recognized any of the Weasleys? He hadn't actually thought of that. Even if they didn't, what would they say when they saw him? And how would they react when they realized Marian and Emily were witches?

"And this…" he now heard Marian saying, "…is Dudley's business partner's family!"

Harry waited for the blow-up from Vernon, but it didn't come. He must not have recognized any of them, and Harry found himself letting out a sigh of relief.

"Well, this a quite a group!" Vernon was chortling. "So, who is this business partner of yours, Dudley?"

"Ta-da!" the Weasleys cried and jumped apart, complete with jazz hands and forced smiles, to reveal Harry. The Chosen One stood up to his full height, and strode purposefully away from his family, up to Uncle Vernon, until they were mere feet away.

The first thing Harry realized about his aunt and uncle was that they were old. Petunia's hair was now gray, and Uncle Vernon had deep wrinkles set into his face.

For a moment, everything was still. Vernon's face visibly twitched, as if it were in danger of shattering like glass at any moment.

Then, it did.

"YOU!" Vernon lunged at Harry with calloused hands, ready to rip his throat out, but Dudley intercepted quickly, dragging his father back. Ron ran up to his brother-in-law's side, ready for anything, but Harry held up a hand to wait. Dudley and Vernon were nose-to-nose with each other now, the latter red as a beet and yelling and not caring who heard.

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!"

"This is his family! Dad, if I told you the truth, you never would have come!"

"Oh, so there is no business partner, then?! Clever, Dudders! Not to worry, though! He won't be one soon after!" Vernon lunged back towards Harry breaking free of Dudley's grasp this time, but instead found himself face-to-face with Ron and Hermione. Harry's sister-in-law had her arms pinned back by Harry's sides, forcing him to stay put. Her jaw was set in determination, but there was still fear in her eyes.

"If you kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Hermione vowed. Ron now stepped forward to protect his wife and brother, steely anger in his features. Vernon almost stumbled as he came to a stop mid-lunge, staring at Ron and Hermione in bewilderment.

"Ron, Hermione, step back, please," Harry ordered, his voice oddly stoic and calm. Seeing his uncle now, in the flesh again, he realized there was nothing to fear.

"Not bloody likely, mate! Bastard'll have to go through me first!"

"And me!" Hermione echoed.

A moment of silence, and then, Ginny came to her husband's side. She whipped her wand out, her eyes blazing with rage, and stuck it in Vernon's face so far he instinctively took a step back.

"And me."

Ginny's promise seemed to create a kind of wave, like the one that builds back behind a dam. One by one, the rest of the Weasleys surrounded Harry again, this time creating a sort of human shield as they each voiced their promise to die before seeing one of their own hurt. Harry felt incredibly moved by this display, but not until all 14 children, including Emily Dursley, formed a circle around the adults. The final straw was when Dudley stood in front of them, directly defying his father. All told, an army of 28 people now squared off against Vernon Dursley.

Vernon looked stunned. He stood their stupidly, not knowing what to say or do. Petunia and Marian, meanwhile, were off to one side, cowering over what was sure to be a quite a brawl, and an extremely unbalanced one at that.

Then, the dam exploded.

"Take him down!" Molly II growled, and the children launched themselves at Vernon with rebel yells before any of the adults could stop them. The fat, old man was quickly overwhelmed, and soon had Weasleys, Potters, a Lupin, and even his only granddaughter punching and kicking him from all sides.

"Gerr-off-me! Gerr-off-me!"

"NO!" Dudley roared, and quickly moved to pry the kids off his father. Harry pushed his way through the crowd of his relatives and moved to help him; Ron, Bill, George and Percy all followed. As the men wrestled their children off Vernon, throwing them every which way, Harry actually found himself laughing. Seventeen years of abuse had been worth it, all of it, to see his sons, nieces, nephews, daughter, godson and first-cousin-once-removed all attack his uncle.

The physical battle now dissolved into a shouting match between parents and children; Vernon was left to help himself off the ground.

"Emily Kendall Elizabeth Dursley! I can't believe you would attack your grandfather that way!"

"He tried to kill Harry, Dad! What did you expect me to do?"

Suddenly, Vernon cleared his throat, and a hush fell over the crowd. His beady little eyes bore into Harry's; but Harry stood defiantly, staring the old Muggle down.

"Well, boy…" Vernon growled maliciously, and gestured to the horde around them. "Is this why you tricked me into coming here? So you could let your loony relatives kill me in revenge?"

"No." Harry said it quietly, but firmly. He slowly approached Vernon, waving back his family's offered aid. "This isn't even about me. I didn't ask you here for an apology. I didn't ask you here because I wanted to see you. I did it because he-" and he pointed at Dudley "-has a few things he needs to tell you." Dudley stared at Harry, as if asking for permission, and when the Chosen One nodded, he stepped forward.

"Mum, Dad. Harry's right, there's something I need to tell you…" He took a deep breath before spilling it out: "Marian's a witch. And so is Emily."

Silence. If Vernon had been stunned to see Harry, he now looked virtually traumatized at this announcement.

"No…" he almost choked in a whisper. "No! My son's gotten involved with freaks! This is your fault, boy!" He lunged at Harry again.

No one had time to even move in the split second of what happened next. Harry moved like a machine, as he physically beat and decapitated his uncle in a matter of moments. Years of Muggle Disarmament Training in the Auror Department had taught Harry to feel the moves, not think, and before he even realized what he had done, his uncle was lying on the ground, wheezing and trying futilely to get up.

No one even dared to exhale now, the only sound being Vernon's moans and Harry's hard breathing. Harry towered over Vernon, anger and power blazing in his eyes like fire.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that!" Harry growled. "Seventeen years. Seventeen years of being beaten, abused, neglected, locked up, forced to slave away. Seventeen years of not being loved, not even believing I could be, should be, loved. Well, I've finally put that behind me now, and I am not afraid of you!" The Boy Who Lived now knelt until he was eye-level with Vernon, and the seized the old man by the collar. "Now, you listen to me, Vernon Dursley. You and Petunia lost your chance with me, but now you have a second one you don't even deserve! You have the chance to appreciate your daughter-in-law and granddaughter for who they really are: wonderful, and yes, magical people. Like it or not, you are a part of this world - and now you have to clean up your act and plan accordingly. Neither Marian nor Emily will be treated any differently than they were before today. You will love them and cherish them and support them, because if you don't, they'll go the same way as me, and take your son with them - and you'll only have yourselves to blame! Comprende?" Vernon actually whimpered and nodded. Harry helped the man to his feet, though he felt he was above that, before letting him go.

Harry turned back to Dudley. "I'm sorry, Big D."

But Dudley was actually smiling. "What the bloody hell are you sorry for? That was amazing! I've been wanting to beat him up myself for years!" Most of the people present laughed nervously.

"I'll…I'll take Vernon and Petunia back, Dudley," Marian offered nervously. "You and Emily stay and have a good time." She guided the Dursleys back to their car, shaking slightly, before they got in and drove away.

After a moment, Harry turned back to his still silent family. His face cracked into an exasperated grin. "Well that's done!"

The Weasleys laughed and a few people cheered.

"Who wants a game of Quidditch?" George boomed over the tumult. The kids screamed assent and ran to retrieve their gear.

"Um, Harry? What's Quidditch?"

"Oh, it's this great wizard sport, Dudley! You'll love it…."


	6. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Vernon and Petunia did love Marian and Emily. They accepted both for their magical heritage, though Vernon still tepidly. They even came, several years later, to watch Emily's Hogwarts graduation - along with her parents, the Potters, Teddy and the other Weasleys.

Things never quite thawed completely between Harry and his aunt and uncle; that would have taken a miracle. But Harry didn't mind. If there was one thing he had learned on his mission for the Horcruxes, it's that blood does not make a family. Love does. And neither one of them had to be mutually inclusive to the other.

And, Harry knew that, for his family, love was all he really needed.


End file.
